Bread, tuna and shampoo: Schools offer them for just 1,000 won

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Bread, tuna and shampoo: Schools offer them for just 1,000 won

Published: 09 Sep. 2025, 14:55 Updated: 09 Sep. 2025, 20:52

YOON SEUNG-JIN
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Students line up to enter the 1,000 won store at Gachon University in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

Along the way to achieving their academic and career goals, what often hits international students the hardest is financial hardship amid rising rent and food prices.

With the average monthly rent in Seoul being 670,000 won ($480) and a loaf of white bread priced at 4,150 won, surviving on 1,000,000 won a month — the average stipend for international students, according to the National Institute for International Education’s February data — could be a bit hard.

Recognizing these concerns, universities and the government have rolled out cost-cutting initiatives to help ease students’ financial burden, offering food, daily necessities and even shampoo for around 1,000 won.

Students line up to buy the 1,000 won bread at Dong Seoul University. [DONG SEOUL UNIVERSITY]

1,000 won bread: A boon for both bakers and students

Since Sept. 1, Dong Seoul University in Seongnam, Gyeonggi, has been running a special program where students from the university’s department of hotel culinary arts and cafe bakery major can practice their skills while other students enjoy fresh bread at an affordable price.

Until Dec. 5, 120 students per day can purchase bread for just 1,000 won on campus to start their day off right.

Based on feedback from the previous semester, the program now offers a rotating menu of popular items such as streusel bread, chocolate muffins, sausage pizza bread, cream bread and red bean buns. Sales begin at 8:40 a.m. and continue until supplies run out, on a first-come, first-served basis.

The bread is prepared and produced by students from the cafe bakery club, Dong Seoul Baguette, under the guidance of master baker Prof. Oh Byung-ho.

“Students are very satisfied and enthusiastic about being able to contribute the baking skills they learned in class to help their peers,” Prof. Oh said. “They are making bread with the best ingredients and care, reflecting what students like most.”

Students browse items at the 1,000 won store at Gachon University in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

Daily necessities and snacks: Four-in-one bundles for 1,000 won

Gachon University and Pyeongtaek University in Gyeonggi have opened the province’s first 1,000-won campus shops.

The shops offer daily necessities and food items — bundled in groups of three to five — at discounts of over 90 percent, selling them for just 1,000 won. The initiative aims to ease the burden of high living costs on students, according to the schools’ press releases.

Based on a prior survey of student preferences, bundles include items such as instant rice, canned tuna, seasoned seaweed and essentials like shampoo and cleansing foam.

The shops can serve about 100 students per day, and availability may vary depending on each store’s stock levels.

Students line up to buy 1,000 won meals at Pukyong National University. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

Government-funded 1,000 won meals at your university

Some universities also offer 1,000 won meals at their cafeterias. Launched in 2023, the “1,000 Won Breakfast” initiative has expanded to include more schools each semester.

Funded through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, meals worth 5,000 won are sold for just 1,000 won at more than 200 designated universities and colleges, including Catholic Kwandong University, Gangneung–Wonju National University and Dongnam Health University. The government provides subsidies to participating schools to cover the cost.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the initiative aims to help students have balanced meals and reduce financial strain. For each meal, the government supports 2,000 won, the provincial government 1,000 won and the university 1,000 won.

The meals are available on a first-come, first-served basis, with limits on the number of students served each day. Details such as operating hours and menus differ by school and can be found on each university’s website.

A person gets on Gyeonggi's Tokbus in Yangju, Gyeonggi [GYEONGGI TRANSPORT CORPORATION]

Bus or taxi? Gyeonggi offers a hybrid ride for around 1,000 won

To help commuters who live in areas lacking public transportation, alternative transportation services have been introduced in Gyeonggi.

Launched in late 2022 in Paju, Gyeonggi’s Tokbus runs flexibly based on customer calls and reservations, without fixed schedules or routes.

Operating in cities including Goyang, Gimpo, Suwon and Ansan, the Tokbus was designed to serve transportation-vulnerable areas using a demand-responsive transit system. Its availability has steadily expanded to cover more cities.

As of July 2025, a total of 267 Tokbuses are operating in 19 cities and counties. The fare is 1,450 won for adults, 1,010 won for teenagers and 730 won for children aged 14 and under.

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [[email protected]]